How to use the right key terms in your public health job application, with Zoila Reyna

Unlock the code to public health job success with Zoila Reina of Public Health Hired, who graces our podcast with expert tips on mastering the language of the sector. If you've ever felt lost in a sea of job applications, Zoila's creation, the Public Health Key Terms Guide, is your beacon. We zero in on the power of terms and how they're not just buzzwords but keys to your next career move. From decoding job descriptions to enhancing your resume and shining in interviews, our conversation is the guiding light for public health hopefuls ready to make their mark.


You’ll Learn

• What the Key Terms in Public Health Guide is and how it came to be
• How understanding terms can help you envision yourself in certain jobs and reflect on your skills
• Understanding key terms to show off your public health knowledge in job applications and interviews
• Elevating your language in everyday work to advance your career
• Using key terms to expand your job search beyond traditional public health roles

Today’s Guest

The founder of Public Health Hired, Zoila Reyna MPH, has single-handedly, with no outsourcing, helped secure over 240 public health job offers and internships through her virtual presentations, online masterclass, tailored mentorships, and social media content. Zoila's unwavering dedication to the diverse public health workforce is evident through the Public Health Hired's mission to demystify the public health employment process and help others master best practices and proven techniques to be successful in the job search. She has a full-time job in healthcare as a consultant for community health and loves spending time in her Los Angeles home with her baby girl Jhara, her son Giovanni, dog Lulu, and spouse Jimmy.

Resources

• Connect with Zoila on LinkedIn 
• Get the Key Terms in Public Health guide and check out what else Public Health Hired has to offer 
• Listen to the previous episode on personal branding

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I realize our workforce, especially those who are entering, just need to be comfortable with. This is the language you're dealing with. Like, this is the vernacular that you will hear, not only on the job announcements and in your interviews, but also when you actually work. And that's been one of the great things is, folks use the guide for other ways, like for interviews, for upgrading their resume, and that's what the guide's been able to do for some of my followers.

Speaker 2: 0:30

Welcome to PH Spotlight, a community for you to build your public health career with. Join us weekly right here and I'll be here too. Your host, sujani Siva from PH Spot. Hi, zoila, and welcome to the PH Spot podcast, and welcome Hi. Thank you, sujani, for having me Super excited. Thank you, we've been trying to make this happen. I feel like it's been over a year and we're finally doing it.

Speaker 1: 1:01

Yes, and I'm sure we're going to do it again.

Speaker 2: 1:03

Oh yeah, absolutely the first of many, exactly, and so for any of our listeners, you might know Zoila because she runs public health hired. But in case you haven't heard of Zoila or public health hired, I might just turn it over to you, give us like a two minute intro of who you are and use that two minutes however you want. However, you want to describe yourself.

Speaker 1: 1:24

Great Well, hi everyone, hi listeners. My name is Zoila Reina. I am the founder of public health hired. I am a public health professional, just like you.

Speaker 1: 1:35

I've been in public health for over 16 years, still at my full time job at a healthcare organization here in California. I am based in Los Angeles, and so a lot of my followers and mentees are from the United States, but I also support folks in Canada and other countries globally, and essentially I am really trying to share the best practices of how you get a job in public health, which includes how to find the job, how do you apply correctly with resume and cover letters to stand out, how do you get those callbacks and how do you actually land interviews not just one, but multiple rounds of interviews plus assignments that they sometimes throw at you. So I am all about supporting the workforce as best as we can. Whether you're a student or just curious about public health and trying to prepare yourself before you enter in the field, or if you're deep in it and want to pivot into another focus area, I am here to help as best I can.

Speaker 2: 2:29

That's cool. We're just going to jump into it because we want to give you 20 minutes or just like solid information.

Speaker 2: 2:38

So you might need a notebook for this chat, but there's also a cool resource that Zoila has on her website, so I'll make sure to also link that up. But essentially, you know everything that you talked about, zoila. This first step is kind of like understanding the job posting. But if you're not applying to a job yeah, job posting, and somebody recommends it to you there's still something that you need to make sure you do on your resume and cover letter, and that's like using the right words.

Speaker 1: 3:09

Yes, it's almost like using the right code. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 3:13

So, whether you're reading a job posting or you are going to be writing up an application, you know cover letter, the assignment, the resume these words matter, and knowing how to use these key words or key terms in a way that's going to get your application picked up by the person on the other side is what we're going to talk about, and when I saw this resource on Zoila's page, I was like yes, we need to talk about this. I've heard from a lot of people that that is something that they struggle with, right Not knowing how to read a job application. So maybe you can start us off by like, just laying some of the basics and then maybe we'll dig into it a little bit. Sure, yeah.

Speaker 1: 3:55

So just so that everyone has like a little bit of background into this guide that I have. It's called the public health key terms guide. I struggled with the title, but that's what we've got. Essentially, I had worked with so many folks on social media for navigating the application process and reading the jobs and I'm all about doing job alerts and I know, sujani, you are too. Let's share what's out there but folks were still not seeing themselves in the job.

Speaker 1: 4:26

Right, I would post jobs that talk about, you know, technical assistance, specialist or best practice implementation, like these words that they felt like. But that's not me. And so there was basically a mentee I had who said you know what I wish we had? This was really just from one mentee suggestion and it's changed everything. She was like I wish there was a cheat sheet where I could see what am I expected to read, what am I supposed to be saying? Because she kept describing there's this gray area of coming at a school and jumping into employment. And after conversations not only with her but with my mentees and trying to educate them and define these words like accreditation, right, things that they had never heard about but they should know about, I also got kind of long winded. I'm like, okay, this is what technical assistance is this?

Speaker 1: 5:29

is a building capacity, as this is what best practices are. This is the difference of standard operating procedures. So the language was almost it's just too much to kind of share in one sitting. You have to really you need a guide. You need something that lists out all of these words and what to expect as you're reading them. So, essentially, it was the suggestion of a mentee of mine and I drafted the first guide. It was about 50 terms and it was from what I know. It was just from my own job searching, from my own practice in public health. This is how we talk about the work and this is how you should expect reading the jobs, and all I did was provide the term and then transferable skills that you should consider to fold into that. So for folks who were like, oh, here's a term, for example, standard operating procedures, and so then on the right, I would show you that you qualify as implementing standard operating procedures if you've helped with actual operations or retail or processes workflows. Even if you were a cashier, that is a standard operating procedure, right On how you close out the cash. So a lot of this language was just helping them see themselves in it, and that's where I started.

Speaker 1: 6:54

And now fast forward to three and a half years later. I have a key terms guide. That was contributions from five committee members and those five committee members are folks who got jobs using the techniques I use and they are public health professionals across the nation. And now we have 70 key terms and it's not just transferable skills but it includes definitions with citations and then also an actual sentence use Like how do I use this word in a sentence if I wanted to try it out? And so it's a little more fleshed out, and then it still has the transferable skills information. But honestly, it's been kind of the game changer for public health hired and folks who follow, because number one, it's free, grab it and do what you want with it. But honestly, it's the best thing for job applications. As you're reading the jobs and you're like, oh, what does that mean? What does accreditation mean, then you can kind of use the guide as a reference to kind of help you get through the job announcements.

Speaker 2: 7:58

That's so good. I remember early in my career, like in my first job, I remember seeing another job and wanted to apply to it and I remember talking to my manager saying they're asking for like risk assessment experience.

Speaker 1: 8:13

And.

Speaker 2: 8:13

I don't think I have any like how should I go about this? And she's like the job you're in is all about risk assessment. Let's look at this. Wait a minute. I'm like, oh okay, so that's okay, got it. And sometimes like you're in it and you don't know.

Speaker 1: 8:29

You don't see it.

Speaker 2: 8:30

That's what they're asking for, right and right now. When you explain the standard operating procedure, in my head I would have thought of it as like I was responsible to write out an SOP and I am the one who like, implemented and did that whole thing. But you know, when you're applying to especially early kind of like entry level jobs or even like mid level jobs, sometimes pulling from these like transferable skills or experiences you've had in other areas of work is good enough to get you through the door. Because you know, I think we've heard that crazy stat that people just look at your resume for a few seconds and then you're like in the in pile or the out pile. So part of what you're saying is like, use this guide, get yourself in the in pile and then go wow them right.

Speaker 1: 9:19

Yes, yes, yeah, and honestly, the key terms guide. It is supposed to be a reflection, like, if that's kind of the first time you get to ask yourself did I do that, have I done that? And I have these aha moments with my mentees all the time. Maybe that's why I still love doing this, because I hear their ahas, they see it, they get it right. Before they didn't see themselves as someone who supported assessments right, because they're all about evaluation and analysis, I'm like, but you know, we can talk about it in assessment as well.

Speaker 1: 9:53

So, like these different ways of talking about public health are, I realize our workforce, especially those who are entering, just need to be comfortable with. This is the language you're dealing with. Like this is the vernacular that you will hear, not only on the job announcements and in your interviews, but also when you actually work. Like and that's been one of the great things is, folks use the guide for other ways, like for interviews, right, for example, for upgrading their resume. And then one of my followers always gives me updates because she told me she used the guide to improve her own language at her job. So she was already a public health professional and, yes, she wants to grow in her career, but she's like what can I do now to improve? And she basically said, like her boss keeps giving her better work. She got a promotion because she's just elevating her language and she's matching it with her manager, and that's what the guide's been able to do for some of my followers.

Speaker 2: 10:53

It's like, when you can use industry terms appropriately, it kind of like does make you seem more qualified in those roles, right? Yes, I did a recording with another coach and we talked about personal branding and it was about what you see yourself as. And then, what does your management see you?

Speaker 1: 11:17

as right.

Speaker 2: 11:18

If you're thinking like I should be up for that next promotion. I feel qualified to be the manager, but if you're like seniors don't see you in that role. There's a gap there and you need to figure that out. And often it could be that they don't see you speaking like a manager or showing up like a manager, right, or?

Speaker 1: 11:39

asking the right questions. Yeah, you know, public health is so complex and so dynamic and multi-layered and I think the best thing you can do as you're out there working is don't assume that you know what's going on. Like I think sometimes I'm realizing that my managers appreciate when I come with harder questions and in fact they're on me lately because they're like you're not being hard enough, like you need to raise critical questions that drive the conversations to a certain level, and so in everyone's own work you can do that for yourself. But it's kind of up to you to practice, to find the information. Like, how do I look at this differently?

Speaker 1: 12:21

I always say, when it comes down to interviews, the underlying question that you are all really answering is are you one of us? That's the only reason we interview. A company wants to know are you one of us? And let me tell you how people recognize their own Language. Yeah, that's it, yeah, language. So I I'm pretty hard with folks on like, stop trying to be friendly and bubbly and smiley, like, because I can tell you I would hire someone who Looks like mean mugging but speaks the right language. You know what I mean. Like, if you're saying the right things, the hiring manager will be forgiving if you slip up a little bit, but as long as they're hearing like they get the world that we work in and where we're trying to go, then you're one of them, then you get the job. So, yes, language is everything.

Speaker 2: 13:15

Yeah, that's good. So you know, I think part of it and maybe I read this on your website is like Knowing the right key terms also helps you Find the right jobs to apply to and maybe it was on your website when I read this it's like there's more you can search than just public health in a job search engine. I'm guilty of that. I think that's how I started go public help LinkedIn jobs. What are you going to give me?

Speaker 1: 13:42

I Mean that's what we all done. I did that for like I don't know, for like two to three years. I was doing that like, come on public health jobs. There's got to be more out there. But no, that's actually the trap, that's the that's it. That's the trap.

Speaker 1: 13:57

You're only looking at the tip of the iceberg, where the jobs are, are categorized and flagged as public health, because the rest of the work is underneath the water, is the big iceberg of like Social impact, community impact, right, access to care, like all these other terms that make up our world.

Speaker 1: 14:16

And in fact, when you download the guide, the term public health isn't mentioned in there. Oh, I don't define public health because the whole guide is public health. Mm-hmm. The 70 key terms make up public health, so why am I going to define public health in there? So I actually Tell people don't search public health, and it's actually going to hold you back more. You can do it on occasion if you're bored, but it's not going to be like the way that you get the job. And I'll be honest for me personally, while I mentor folks and even for my own curiosity, the amount of times I punch in public health in one year is probably four or five times In one year and I wonder if that's like also more important now, because we're seeing the role of public health practitioners embedded in kind of these like non traditional roles that we you know.

Speaker 2: 15:10

Typically it's the health promoter, the community health workers, the epidemiologists. There was like five to ten, maybe traditional roles, but now I Think we're seeing that we can be integrated in almost anything.

Speaker 1: 15:25

Yes, and our title is very widely yeah, I'm dealing with my mentees who are applying to like grievance and appeal specialist or Business operation specialist, you know, still appropriate still within public health, still within our world. But you wouldn't be searching that if you're not looking at the key terms guide or following what we, what we teach here. So I think from my mentees, that's the first thing we get on is what are you searching? Let's get your key terms solid so that you Get on the right path, and that's what this guide is for and that's why it's free, so that you guys can just get on the right Path for yourself. I like to think that public health hired is here to give you a flashlight in your journey. That's what really it's all about is let me help you see where you're stepping and careful for that pothole over here, so you know that's really what the guide is meant to do is give you a flashlight.

Speaker 2: 16:20

Yeah, I think when you were talking about you know, helping the public health work for us, kind of like elevate the language that they use when they show up in their roles. It's almost like we know that we're all very competent in public health. It's like that part of it we can kind of check off. We all have some sort of education or experience that has allowed us to do public health really well. Now it's about showing the person on the other side whether that's an employer for a job or some other opportunity that you're putting yourself in for that you are the right person and I think you hit that right where it's like are you one of them? Do you understand the organization? Do you understand the work Not necessarily public health? Do?

Speaker 1: 17:08

you understand the target population? Yeah, do you understand the partners at the table? So I think that's what I get really excited about when I get folks to the interview process is, let's make sure you understand it from a 360. Not just the project itself, not just the company, but you understand the audience and the partners and the skill set that will be required of this. So, yeah, I think it's looking at it comprehensively absolutely.

Speaker 2: 17:34

Yeah, awesome, okay, so this key term I think we talked about, we can use a tool to first, like, look for roles, yes, and then we can also use it when we're preparing the application Update your resume. Yeah, update the resume cover letter Absolutely, and then you can use it during your interview. You can use it when you're like in a role you know, use these terms to have regular conversation. Maybe choose a term of the week and try to embed it in your conversations that week. Any other uses for it that you've come across.

Speaker 1: 18:10

Yeah, I think that's it. I mean, I think it runs the gamut, I mean really it's. You know, even for folks who are students and you're not even looking for work, you can download it and see, like how much am I really already absorbing this in my school. You know, should I talk more about a certain?

Speaker 1: 18:26

because I think we're not even aware of our interests sometimes because we're thinking of the traditional track, right Like the demology or the health educator, and so my goal is also to help people like make their own way, make their own path. You can actually be more than just not no, no, banging on health educators, but you know, we just assume the traditional roles and we're beyond that. Now, especially after the pandemic, we're beyond that.

Speaker 2: 18:50

I think another good use I can think of is and I'm seeing this a lot is like there's a group of individuals who are considered early career professionals in public health but they built like a five or 10 year career in another field and now they want to enter public health.

Speaker 1: 19:08

Yes, like teachers, yeah teachers.

Speaker 2: 19:11

I've seen like people in marketing coming in or people in engineering coming into public health, and I think that also this list could be helpful when they're looking at their past experience and thinking okay, how can I transfer those skills into public health? Like what are some of those similar work that we've done?

Speaker 1: 19:29

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 19:30

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 19:31

Yeah, it's very universal and I hope to keep it improving it, but it is an evergreen product. Right now it's free and I don't want to put a fee on it. So please spread widely, post it. I try to post it as much as I can, but, yeah, it does actually get people on the right foot and I'm happy to hear the feedback.

Speaker 2: 19:47

So awesome, All right. So public health hirecom you should be able to find that very easily. I think maybe we'll do like a follow up session to even walk through the document and do more of an in depth dive into that.

Speaker 1: 20:02

Yeah, and we can even invite folks to come to the club for something like that Something kind of special and kind of open up the guide with them.

Speaker 2: 20:09

So yeah, let's do that, yeah that would be nice.

Speaker 1: 20:11

So thank you, sujani, for this.

Speaker 2: 20:13

This was so nice to spend some time together. Thank you for joining me and we'll see you on a future episode. We'll do it again. Yes, hey, I hope you enjoyed that episode and if you want to get the links or information mentioned in today's episode, you can head over to phspotorg slash podcast and we'll have everything there for you.

Speaker 2: 20:37

And before you go, I want to tell you about the Public Health Career Club.

Speaker 2: 20:41

So if you've been looking for a place to connect and build meaningful relationships with other public health professionals from all around the world, you should join us in the Public Health Career Club.

Speaker 2: 20:53

We launched the club with the vision of becoming the number one hangout spot dedicated to building and growing your dream public health career.

Speaker 2: 21:01

And in addition to being able to connect and build those meaningful relationships with other public health professionals, the club also offers other great resources for your career growth and success, like mindset coaching, job preparation clinics and career growth strategy sessions in the form of trainings and talks, all delivered by experts and inspiring individuals in these areas. So if you want to learn more or want to join the club, you can visit our page at phspotorg slash club and we'll have all the information there. And you know, as a space that's being intentionally curated to bring together like minded public health professionals who are not only there to push themselves to become the best versions of themselves, but also each other. And with that, I can't wait to see how this is going to have a ripple effect in the world, as we all work together to better the health of our populations and just have immense impact in the world. And I hope you'll be joining us in the Public Health Career Club.